eBay.com 2010 Spring Seller Update
by Chris Dawson
The news is out and we now know what the changes for eBay.com will be for the next few months. For those of us in the UK there’s not too many clues as to what will happen in the UK as it appears eBay.com are playing catch up with many of the changes duplicating what’s happened in the UK over the last year.
The end of Store Inventory Format (SIF)
SIF listings will cease to exist on eBay.com as of March 30th this year simplifying the choice of listing format for US sellers. Now all listings will appear in the main search results and existing Store Inventory Format listings will automatically become regular Fixed Price listings.
New Stores subscription costs and listing fees
As of March 30, 2010 the eBay.com fee structure will mirror the UK with low upfront costs and the bulk of fees being success based payable only when an item sells.
For fixed price listings the fees are:
No Store Subscription: 50¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fees, no monthly fee
BASIC: 20¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fees, $15.95/month
PREMIUM: 5¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fees, $49.95/month
ANCHOR: 3¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fees, $299.95/month
Casual sellers will be able to list up to 100 auctions with 99¢ no reserve start price for free on eBay.com and only pay if their item sells. The final value fee will be 9% capped at $50.00. Insertion fees for higher start prices will be the same as those for Store subscribers, although subscribing to a store will lower your final value fees.
Store subscribers will get up to 12 pictures on their listings for free!
For most sellers the fee changes will mean significantly lower up front fees so less risk, with final value success based fees largely unchanged. Sellers can subscribe or upgrade their eBay Store now and pay no additional monthly subscription fees until April 2010
New Buyer and Seller protection
eBay buyer protection is rolling over from PayPal to the new eBay resolution process along with automatic final value fee refunds when you refund your buyer. For sellers unpaid items can be opened in the resolution process as few as four days from the date of sale giving faster resolution with eBay handling communications with the buyer.
Top Seller and PowerSeller status
Top Seller status is being expanded to more sellers, eBay Motors traders will be able to qualify and US based sellers will be able to qualify as Top Sellers based on sales on eBay.co.uk, eBay.ie, eBay.de, eBay.ch and eBay.at. To qualify as a Top Seller in EU countries sellers must be registered as business sellers.
From mid April new seller requirements will apply to all sellers, not just Top Sellers and new PowerSeller discounts will come into effect. In addition sellers need to remove all PowerSeller icons, logos and references from their listings.
Multi Variation Listings expanded
Multi Variation Listings will be available in more categories allowing sellers to consolidate products with colour or size differences into a single listing. This not only reduces insertion fees but also as the listings receive sales will boost the listings position in Best Match.
The effect of the changes
No doubt there’s going to be plenty of conversation around the changes for eBay.com sellers, but in truth although the changes are complex for UK sellers they’re almost mundane. UK sellers have already been working for a year with more expensive eBay shop subscriptions, lower insertion fees, higher (in some cases) final value fees and no shop inventory format listings. The net result for many sellers has been a cut in their total eBay invoice, although for UK sellers who sell mainly or exclusively on auction format did see a fee increase.
So if you’re in the US what do you think of the changes? If you’re in the UK are there any clues in the latest US announcement as to what changes could be coming to us when eBay announce changes for the UK?
18 Responses on "eBay.com 2010 Spring Seller Update"
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So if I’m reading this right I should make two ids. One with a store and one without so I can use both auctions and fixed price.
I’m glad my business is no longer dependent upon eBay and their changes.
The hike from .35 to .50 for non-store subscribers is highway robbery.
I’m not seeing how the new fee structure is supposed to entice people to list on eBay instead of Amazon.
Limiting free listings to 100 per month is something I would very much like to see on the UK site.
So would I, though I think 100 is too high, I think one free listing a day, so you’re allowed to list 30 maximum per calendar month.
I am very happy at 100.
It is the ‘private’ sellers with many thousands of free to list @99p, 1 day revolving (always newly listed, always time ending soonest), non-selling, category clogging, carp that I have issue with.
These sellers would be limited to just 3 such listings at any one time to stay within the 100 per month.
Would make a HUGE difference.
Never happen, all those listings help massage the figures which keep wall street happy.
If the true picture was clear to the markets the stock price would plummet.
And I thought that it was earnings per share and prospects that kept Wall Street happy.
Silly me.
Can a UK seller open a .com Store ?
A UK seller can open a .com store. An existing UK store would have to be closed first, ending all your fixed price listings. You’d get the reduced listing rate on .com, Don’t expect to get the reduced listing rate on .co.uk
The fee change really hurts me. I sell a ton of items in the $50 range which will have $25 of it go from 3.5% to 9% on the final value fees. It pretty much seems like they targetted me for the price hike.
FVF on a $50 item before was $3.06. Now it will be $4.50. Quite a hike.
Do you sell in auction format or fixed price? Also what is your sell through rate?
We had the same discussion in the UK when the fee changes happened. In reality for fixed price sellers the low listing fees coupled with a realistic sell through rate actually lowered fees. I know many sellers who’s actual eBay invoice went down by as much as 50-60%.
If you sell exclusively on auction format then it is in reality a fee increase as it was in the UK.
Always the auction format — at least that way you reach the top page near when the item ends. Fixed price languishes on page 4 or 5 behind people who use stock pictures for items that are individual and different from each other (One atari 2600 system isnt the same as another — condition varies wildly).
Sell Through rate — around 90%
This is a pure fee hike for me.
And yet it works for them — not only will they squeeze more money out of me, but it will encourage me to try to sell a bunch of inventory BEFORE the change happens — win/win for them at least. Problem is with the recent postage hike and this my margins are getting so thin it is hardly worth it.
Above Standard seller status coming to the UK
http://developer.ebay.com/community/blog/article/?category=Blog.Developer&name=http://ebaydeveloper.typepad.com/dev/2010/01/developer-impact-spring-2010-announcements.html
So below TRS is ASS
and if your none of those your are in the SS
… logo on bottom of this post:
http://tamebay.com/2009/12/above-standard-pss-launch-16th-january.html
Many thanks for the informative articles on Tamebay.
“are there any clues in the latest US announcement as to what changes could be coming to us when eBay announce changes for the UK?”
Pressetext has a (German language) article about the eBay.com seller release and something about the upcoming changes in Europe. Details of the changes in Europe would be announced next week according to pressetext. They talked to eBay spokeswoman Maike Fuest, who said that the changes on eBay.de would not be about eBay fees but about other things such as the Power-Seller-Program and Postage costs (“Hierzulande werden die Änderungen nicht die Gebühren, sondern andere Bereiche betreffen. Dazu zählen etwa das Power-Seller-Programm und das Thema Versandkosten”).
Past changes and seller releases on eBay.de have been very similar to those in the UK.
http://www.pressetext.de/news/100127114/ebay-vor-rundum-sanierung/
EBAY SERFDOM
EBay Fee Changes 2010
The eBay marketplace is like the serf-based feudal system of medieval Europe. In medieval Europe there were rich land owners called lords. The lords had subjects called serfs that worked their land growing crops. The lords did not labor – except to occasionally whip the serfs to keep them working hard. The serfs were required to pay a large portion of the crops they grew to the lords as a form of rent. The big problem is that the serfs were trapped – they had no means of feeding themselves without the use the lord’s land. This problem led to abuses and near-slavery for the serfs.
EBay strives to create such a system today. EBay owns the marketplace – the eBay site. The marketplace is like the land in the feudal system. Because eBay is by-far the dominate marketplace on the Internet they can act like a lord. EBay can dictate any rules they want to the sellers. If the seller depend on eBay’s for their livelihood are required to comply or starve.
The new fee changes will cause most sellers to pay a lot more. Typical small to medium eBay store sellers will see listing fee increases from 70-150%.
EBay wants to help those sellers earn the money they need to pay the higher fees. Sellers now get all items in full search results. This should result in more sales. With the extra sales sellers will be able to pay eBay more.
These changes are like the feudal lord telling the serfs that he is generously increasing their farming area to 3 acres from 2 acres. At first this seems wonderful. It will help the serfs grow more food for their families, but it is not as it seems. Later it is revealed that the land rent has increased from the crops from just 1 acre to the crops from 2 acres. The serfs still keep the crops from 1 acre – same as before. Now the Lord gets double. The serfs just work harder – all for the lord. EBay is playing the same game.
As long as eBay is the dominate marketplace sellers should only expect the situation to get worse. Don’t allow eBay to turn you into a modern-day serf!